


47 Hops to the Right

by Hester (hester4418)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Parallel Universes, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25451953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hester4418/pseuds/Hester
Summary: An A/U story inspired by a manip (manipulated image) by Jane_Dee which shows Chakotay in the captain's chair in the ready room, and Kathryn Janeway opposite him wearing a science uniform.
Relationships: Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway
Comments: 46
Kudos: 94
Collections: Worth A Grand: Janeway/Chakotay Photo Prompt Fic Fest





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: _Star Trek: Voyager_ and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story however belongs to me.
> 
> Thanks go out to Jane_Dee for the manip, and to Biz1701 for the photo challenge, because without both this story would never have been conceived. More thank yous go to Indian Summer, Koneia, and KJaneway115 for their wonderful encouragement and willingness to share ideas, and additionally to Indian Summer for pointing out some glaring oversights (I'm still shaking my head at one in particular...).
> 
> WARNING: This story a) is still incomplete, and b) will be posted a little at a time - both due to vacation, work, and an uncompromising story idea that insisted on getting bigger and bigger as the days went by. It also has not been betaed for grammar or spelling yet, so all mistakes are entirely my own. But I promised I'd post on July 22nd, so I'm starting anyway. ;-)

The door to the ready room slid aside. Seated behind the desk, _Voyager_ 's captain looked up, smiling at the individual in a science-blue uniform striding into the room.

"Hello, Kathryn."

Stopping in front of the desk, Kathryn Janeway placed both hands on the flat surface and leaned forward until her lips touched the captain's for a lingering kiss. "I missed you this morning."

"I had an early meeting with B'Elanna and didn't want to wake you." Chakotay smiled warmly. "What brings you here this early?"

"There's something I'd like to show you before the staff meeting." She gestured toward his computer. "May I?"

"Of course."

He started to swivel the terminal in her direction, but she stepped around the desk and leaned over his shoulder, her cheek brushing his as she input commands with one hand.

"Remember the star charts we obtained from that trader last week? I found something interesting when I integrated them into our astrometrics database." A map appeared on the screen, highlighting _Voyager_ 's journey through the Delta Quadrant. Kathryn zoomed in on a particular area ahead of their course. "What do you make of this?"

A vaguely round blob sat apart from the nearest star cluster. It was clearly neither a star nor a planet.

"A spatial anomaly of some kind," Chakotay guessed. "A nebula, maybe?"

"That's what I thought at first," Kathryn nodded. "But then..." She zoomed in further until the anomaly filled the whole screen.

Chakotay took a sharp breath. "You think –"

"Yes," she confirmed, happily noting that her discovery excited him as much as it had herself. "I'm 90 percent certain that it's a wormhole. We should be in scanning range by this time tomorrow. And if it's still there..."

"...we'll definitely check it out," he finished for her. Turning his head, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Good work, Commander."

"Thank you, Captain," she grinned and then straightened, returning to the other side of the desk. "I'm hoping that being on the chart means it's stable. Of course there's always the possibility that it leads back to where we came from."

"Let's find and scan it first and worry about the rest later."

"Maybe we're finally getting a break. After six months, I was almost beginning to lose hope."

"If that's how you feel after just six months in the Delta Quadrant, how are you going to survive the next sixty-nine and a half years?" he joked.

"Don't remind me." She'd meant to return to her research right after giving him the good news, but now found herself lingering. "Do you ever regret scrapping the _Val Jean_?" she asked, carefully watching his reaction.

Chakotay leaned back, looking thoughtful. "Sometimes, a little. My life would no doubt be much easier if I'd just taken my crew and my ship and left _Voyager_ to fend for herself. But with her captain and first officer both dead, Tuvok didn't leave me much choice. You know how he likes to present his probability assessments. Let's just say that the odds were not in favor of either of our ships surviving beyond the first month on our own."

"I think we can all count ourselves lucky to have made it this far."

"Indeed." They fell silent, both well aware of the difficulties and hardships the members of both crews had had to endure over the past half year.

Then Kathryn turned to leave. "I'll plot a course suggestion for Stadi," she said, heading for the door. "See you in thirty minutes."

She didn't look back as she exited the ready room, knowing that Chakotay would already be immersed in the next topic on his agenda. Being involved with the captain had its perks, like the occasional on-duty kiss when it was just the two of them in a room, but she tried not to overstay her welcome or use their relationship to her advantage. It wouldn't have been fair to the other crew members.

They'd always acted nothing but professional on duty, at least in the company of others, even though they'd been irrevocably attracted to each other from the moment they'd first met. On Chakotay's second day after assuming command of _Voyager_ , his tour of the ship had led him to the science department, and both their lives had been changed forever.

-==/\==-


	2. Chapter 2

_Samantha Wildman was busy running systems checks on a spectrograph used for analyzing all sorts of biological and soil samples. Kathryn had taken it upon herself to sort through the various beakers, test tubes and other assorted equipment filling the cabinets of science lab one. The recent upheavals had left the whole department in shambles, and other science officers were busy carrying out similar clean-up tasks in all the other labs._

_She was about to discard a whole tray full of broken items when the door behind her opened and Sam's startled voice sounded._

_"Captain!"_

_"At ease, Lieutenant," Chakotay's rich baritone replied, his tone rising to a question at the end._

_Kathryn set aside the tray and turned. Immediately, her heart sped up. She hadn't been properly introduced to the new captain yet, and had only seen him briefly the day before at the ceremony that had been held to commemorate their fallen comrades, Maquis and Starfleet alike. Not having being part of any of the away teams, she'd only heard snippets of what had happened on the Caretaker's array and the Ocampan homeworld, and the part Chakotay had played in securing the Ocampa's survival._

_He'd seemed very uncomfortable in his new uniform, frequently pulling at the collar of his shirt or fingering the round rank pips denoting his new position. An hour before the ceremony, a ship-wide announcement had been made about the change in command and the merger of the two crews. Wearing the Starfleet uniform had been declared optional for the former Maquis, and indeed many of Chakotay's crew had chosen to appear in their own garb. Kathryn had supposed that Chakotay probably wanted to set an example for his crew, emphasizing the ideal of one 'united' crew on the larger and more powerful Starfleet ship, but it was obvious that it would be a long way for both sides to trust and accept each other._

_Even so, she'd felt an instant attraction to him. Something in his demeanor – the sad but compassionate smile as he spoke, the care he took to give equal room to both ships' crews, the poise he displayed in the face of open hostility from some of the crew – spoke to her heart. Until that moment, she hadn't given him much thought, never having paid any real attention to who this man was and why_ Voyager _had been sent to apprehend him._

_Reading up on his background that same night, she'd found him far more intriguing than she'd imagined, his Starfleet file presenting a complex personality that seemed at odds with the violent tendencies attributed to him in Captain Cavit's original mission briefing for the senior staff at the beginning of their journey._

_And now he was here, standing less than two meters in front of her, and she was wholly unprepared for the disruptive effect his mere presence had on her thought processes. The fact that he was deadly attractive did nothing to diminish her interest, and she was already imagining tousling his dark brown hair in a far more intimate setting._

Get a grip _, she told herself._ Just because you haven't had a boyfriend in more than a year, it doesn't mean that you need to jump the first good-looking stranger that joins your ship. And maybe he's already involved with one of the Maquis. _She crossed her arms in front of her, hoping to create a bit of professional distance._

_"Wildman, Sir. Samantha Wildman," Sam was saying, her eyes nervously shifting from Chakotay to her department head._

_"It's good to meet you, Lieutenant Wildman," he smiled and extended his hand. After a second of hesitation, Sam stepped forward and shook it._

_Then Chakotay turned to Kathryn. "You must be Commander Janeway."_

_"Kathryn Janeway, Chief Science Officer," she confirmed automatically, her words sounding clipped and precise. Far too clipped in fact; she groped for something to soften her military response. "Welcome aboard, Captain."_

_"Thank you." He seemed surprised by those simple words, as if they were a welcome change from the reception he'd received in other departments. They also shook hands. "I just wanted to check personally if everything's okay down here, and if you needed anything."_

_Kathryn forced her wayward thoughts back into order, biting down on any reply that would serve to embarrass her. "Well, most of the equipment is still in working order or can be easily repaired," she said, looking to Sam for confirmation._

_The blonde woman nodded. "We should have all the instruments up and running again in two or three days."_

_"As soon as the replicators are functioning again, we'll need to replace some of what was broken," Kathryn continued, gesturing at her tray full of shards._

_Chakotay nodded, stepping closer and leaning against one of the lab cabinets. "I'll see to it that the science department is allotted its fair share of rations."_

_She smiled, pleasantly surprised at his easy demeanor. "I would appreciate that. Like everywhere, we're a little short-staffed, but I'm meeting later with two of your crew – Doyle and Smithee? I hear they expressed an interest in joining my team."_

_"Their skills may be a little rusty, but I think you'll find both of them more than capable."_

_"I hope so."_

_He looked around, taking in the lab with its partitioned spaces. In each alcove, one or two people could spread out their projects and work together without disturbing any of the other researchers. When he finally met her eyes again, she read a measure of doubt that surprised her. "If there are any problems integrating them, please don't hesitate to bring it up with Commander Tuvok or myself."_

_"Thank you, but I don't think that'll be necessary," she assured him. She had every intention of working out any problems within her department first, and wasn't daunted by the prospect of two possibly difficult additions. They needed every pair of hands they could get, and hopefully the former Maquis would seize their chance to contribute meaningfully to life aboard_ Voyager _._

_Chakotay nodded again. "Commander, I'm calling a senior staff meeting tomorrow at noon. Please prepare a short overview of your department and its current state of readiness."_

_"Aye, Captain."_

_He lingered another moment, holding her gaze a little longer than necessary. She felt exposed, as if he could read the stray thoughts that were once again flitting through her head, thoughts that would have made her sister giggle in delight over a pair of margaritas on their girl's night out._

_Phoebe had tried to set her up for a date the week before_ Voyager _departed for the Badlands. It hadn't worked out, and now Kathryn wondered if the failed attempt had made her more desperate to find someone for a bit of off-duty activity. Realizing that she was still staring at the captain, she tore her eyes away from his._

_Chakotay turned abruptly and headed for the door. "Until tomorrow then."_

_As soon as he was gone, Sam smiled. "He seems rather nice. Certainly not as stuck-up as Captain Cavit."_

_"Yes," Kathryn replied absently, still reeling a little from the unexpected visit. It might have just been her imagination, but she thought she'd seen a spark of interest in Chakotay's deep brown eyes, and he'd certainly seemed reluctant to leave._ Don't flatter yourself, _she chastised inwardly._ He's just making his rounds, trying to get to know the ship.

_Yet for the rest of the day, she couldn't shake the memory of those brown eyes looking at her, and how they'd sparkled when he'd smiled._

-==/\==-


	3. Chapter 3

On her way back down to deck eight, Kathryn felt the adrenaline coursing through her body. From the day they'd left the derelict Caretaker's array behind, they'd constantly been on the lookout for spatial anomalies that might shorten their way to the Alpha Quadrant. Maybe they'd finally found one.

Establishing a dedicated astrometrics lab had been Kathryn's idea, barely two weeks after _Voyager_ had been stranded in the Delta Quadrant. With no reference material available at all, the Starfleet ship had been flying almost blind for the first couple of days, only gathering information about what lay immediately ahead. Kathryn's suggestion of boosting their scanners to the limits and creating a highly detailed map had met with all-around approval from the other senior officers. With her expertise in quantum physics, cosmology, and temporal mechanics, she had been the logical choice to establish the lab. Additional help came mostly from Ensign Harry Kim, whose post at the ops station gave him in-depth knowledge of all that the ship's scanners could or couldn't do.

Astrometrics had become the place where Kathryn spent most of her duty shifts. As chief science officer, she also supervised the rest of the science division on board, but most of the crew members in her department were capable scientists who didn't need much guidance. They'd also integrated a handful of Maquis who had prior experience in botany or geology. The science department usually saw some action whenever away teams were dispatched to identify foodstuffs or other resources that might be of use to the lone starship far from home.

As she strode into the dome-shaped lab, Kathryn immediately started calling out commands to the computer, instructing it to plot several alternative routes to the suspected wormhole. _Voyager_ 's pilot, Lieutenant Veronica Stadi, had come to appreciate the additional data that astrometrics provided, and often relied on Kathryn's suggestions before deciding on a course.

Six months into their journey, they'd already gathered enough data to keep the cartographers at Starfleet Headquarters busy for several years. Of course they had to make it home first. Kathryn tried not to get her hopes up too much, but her gut feeling was that a significant discovery lay ahead.

-==/\==-

A little over twenty-three hours later, _Voyager_ 's long-range sensors confirmed that the blob on the map was indeed a wormhole. Another half day later, the ship arrived at the given coordinates.

Kathryn was seated at the science station on the bridge as _Voyager_ dropped out of warp. Black space filled the forward viewscreen, with only the faint twinkle of a faraway star in the upper right corner of the display signifying that the device was in working order.

Chakotay turned to Kathryn and gave her a nod. "Your call, Commander. Let's find your wormhole."

She didn't need to consult her sensor readouts to know what to do. "Lieutenant Stadi, course zero-one-zero, one eighth impulse."

"Zero-one-zero, one eighth impulse," the pilot repeated, her fingers flying over the helm controls. "Ready when you are."

"Engage."

 _Voyager_ slowly crept forward. Kathryn silently counted down the seconds. Just as she reached 'ten', a bright flash erupted off to starboard, and the wormhole's aperture opened in a swirling circle of light.

"Yes!" Harry Kim's triumphant cry broke the tension, and everyone laughed.

Chakotay stood. "Looks like we found what we came here for. Bridge to engineering – is the probe ready?"

"I'm inputting the coordinates as we speak," came B'Elanna Torres' voice from the overhead speakers. Another few seconds passed. "Ready, Captain."

"Launch it," Chakotay commanded.

A dark, elongated shape shot into view, moving from the lower edge of the viewscreen straight toward the center of the aperture.

"Telemetry coming in," Kathryn reported, intently studying the data that scrolled across her screen. "Everything's looking as expected."

Kim's voice overlapped hers. "The probe will enter the wormhole in five, four, three, two, one –"

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the swirling mass collapsed in on itself, swallowing the probe.

Kathryn looked up, catching only the last flash before the viewscreen went back to black. "I've lost the signal, but that's as expected."

"How long until the probe will return?" Chakotay asked.

"I can't say for certain, since we don't know how long the passage is. Once the probe exits on the other side, it'll take a series of high-resolution scans and then come back. If I had to guess, I'd say we can expect it back anytime between two and six hours." She rose. "If you don't mind, I'd like to return to astrometrics until then."

The captain nodded his permission, and Kathryn made her way up the ramp toward the turbolift. Behind her, she heard Chakotay address the first officer.

"Commander Tuvok, while we're waiting, I'd like to review our battle readiness plans, just in case. Would you –"

"Captain!" Harry Kim's flustered voice cut in, "There's something coming out of the wormhole!"

Kathryn spun on her heel so fast that she had to grab the bridge railing to keep her balance. Sure enough, the aperture was flaring to life again. "It can't be the probe yet. There must be something else!"

"Shields up, yellow alert," Chakotay called out, taking his seat as amber lights started flashing around the bridge.

The tension was palpable as all the eyes on the bridge were glued to the viewscreen. Kathryn was frozen in place, fear gripping her heart. In all her excitement about finding the wormhole, she'd never considered the possibility that something unexpected might emerge from the interstellar passage, maybe even an alien attacker.

Her eyes fell to Chakotay. From her position, she couldn't see his face, but one of his hands was curled tightly around the armrest of his chair. To his left, Tuvok sat ramrod straight, fingers flying over the small control panel between the command chairs. No doubt he was double-checking the readiness reports coming in from all departments. Old habits from his time as chief security officer were hard to break.

"There!" Stadi called out, and Kathryn's gaze snapped back to the viewscreen.

A small object had emerged from the wormhole, too small to be a ship. When the aperture collapsed, it became invisible against the dark backdrop.

"Magnify," Chakotay ordered tersely.

"Enlarging grid thirty-six alpha," Harry Kim announced. A blurry shape appeared. "I'll zoom in further."

Kathryn squinted, doubting her eyes. With quick strides she went back to the science station, reaching it just as Kim spoke up again.

"Is that our probe? Size and configuration are a match, although it looks pretty banged up."

"I'm not receiving any telemetry," Kathryn confirmed. "The signal emitter must be damaged."

"Use a tractor beam to haul it in and have Torres examine it. If we're lucky, it'll have recorded whatever caused the damage."

As he spoke the words, Chakotay's eyes looked with Kathryn's, and she read the same worry in his gaze that she'd felt earlier. What if the other side of the wormhole turned out to be hostile territory, and their probe had poked a hornet's nest?

-==/\==-

Two hours later, Kathryn was deeply immersed in her latest data analysis. B'Elanna Torres had declined her offer of help, saying that she'd call as soon as she had news about the probe's state. So Kathryn had quickly found herself a new project, one that both Chakotay and Tuvok had readily approved of.

With their permission, Stadi had maneuvered _Voyager_ to a position just close enough to trigger the aperture again. Then they'd hit the wormhole with every sensor and scanner available, creating an immense data dump which Kathryn was now sifting through. She was hoping to find a rough indication of where the wormhole might lead; which quadrant at the very least. Yet so far all the data seemed inconclusive on that count, and there were several readings that she couldn't make sense of at all.

Sighing, she reached for her coffee mug, only to find it empty. As she was getting up to get a refill, her combadge came to life.

"Torres to Janeway."

"B'Elanna! Have you found something?"

"Can you come to engineering right away?" The chief engineer's voice sounded reluctant, cautious.

"Of course. Is something wrong?"

"There's something I need to show you. Please don't tell Chakotay yet."

Dread was creeping into Kathryn's mind. It wasn't like B'Elanna to be so secretive. "I'll be there in a minute."

"I'm on the upper level. Torres out."

The turbolift ride seemed to take forever. Kathryn was tapping her foot impatiently. She and B'Elanna had weathered a number of challenges together, some as early as _Voyager_ 's first days in the Delta Quadrant, and trusted each other implicitly. After discovering that they could both talk tech to an extent that had others tuning out helplessly, the two women had fast become best friends. When Tuvok had opposed Chakotay's decision to appoint B'Elanna as _Voyager_ 's new chief of engineering, it had been Kathryn who'd convinced the Vulcan of the merits of having another Maquis serve on the senior staff – even one with a volatile Klingon temper. With so many Starfleet officers dead in the wake of the displacement wave, they couldn't afford to waste talent and dedication.

The lift doors finally opened. Kathryn hastened toward engineering and made her way straight to the upper level, where she found B'Elanna Torres bent over the remains of a standard class 8 probe.

The probe looked as if it had been exposed to a vacuum. The casing was severely dented or damaged on all sides, and some of the circuitry hung loose. Several cables ran from an access panel to a work station where lines of code were flashing by faster than Kathryn could read.

The half-Klingon woman looked up as she approached. "Thank you for coming down so quickly."

Kathryn wasted no time. "What's wrong?"

B'Elanna straightened and moved to the work station. "When we hauled it in, there was no power, so I had it brought up here where I could hook it up to our systems. As soon as I did, it played the standard greeting." She turned to Kathryn, an unreadable expression on her face. "Do you remember what it said?"

"Of course," Kathryn replied, bewildered. She'd been there when Chakotay had recorded the message, shortly after he'd taken over the responsibility as _Voyager_ 's commanding officer. In case any probe got picked up by strangers, the standard greeting was supposed to state its origin and purpose. "It's the usual spiel about _Voyager_ , the Confederation and our peaceful intentions."

The chief engineer nodded and pressed a button. "Listen."

To her greatest surprise, Kathryn heard her own voice instead of Chakotay's. "This probe is the property of the United Federation of Planets. My name is Kathryn Janeway, and I'm Captain of the _USS_ _Voyager_. Our intentions are peaceful. We launched this probe to gather scientific data of this region of space. It does not carry weaponry of any kind. Please do not destroy it but let it carry out its mission as intended." The recording ended.

"Can you explain this?" B'Elanna asked.

Kathryn shook her head, completely dumbfounded. "I've never heard that before in my life, and I certainly didn't record it!" She looked at the probe, its broken metal hull having suddenly become the bearer of mystery. There was a marking on the side, barely readable. _SS Voyag_

Kathryn's head snapped around. "Play it again!"

B'Elanna wordlessly pressed the button. When the recording ended, she scrutinized her friend. "You noticed, didn't you?"

Kathryn nodded slowly. "We'll have to tell Chakotay."

Picking up a hyperspanner, the engineer turned back to the probe. "I'll leave that to you. There was some more data, but I haven't been able to decrypt it yet. I'm going to try and extract the relay banks. Hopefully at least some of them will still be intact." She pondered for a moment. "There's something strange about this. And I mean apart from the obvious."

"I'll try and buy you some time," Kathryn said, already turning to leave.

"I'd appreciate that. Oh, and Kathryn?"

She turned back, raising one eyebrow questioningly.

B'Elanna smiled. "I think you'd make a great captain."

Kathryn froze, old memories slamming into her without warning, momentarily taking her breath away. "You're mistaken," was all she managed to get out, and then fled before the engineer could ask what was wrong.

The turbolift was mercifully empty, and she leaned against the wall, closing her eyes.

"Please state your destination," the computer's voice prompted.

"Deck Thirteen," Kathryn replied automatically.

As soon as the door opened, she turned left, toward the aft corridor. _Voyager_ 's third-lowest deck had something that set it apart from the ship's other decks: an aft viewport that allowed for a view past one of the nacelles, looking back along their flight path. Even at warp, the stars never looked distorted from this vantage point, which made it unique in Kathryn's view.

Early in their journey, Deck Thirteen had been Kathryn's secret hideout, unknown to most of the rest of the crew. She still came here sometimes to think, or to escape from disturbing thoughts or incidents. Leaning against the viewport, staring out at the stars, always brought back good memories and never failed to calm her.

-==/\==-


	4. Chapter 4

_Deck Thirteen was deserted, as usual. Apart from two auxiliary labs and several escape pods, it contained mostly storage spaces and thus wasn't widely traveled._

_Kathryn moved past the escape pod hatches. Behind them, the corridor curved slightly outward, creating a small niche with a viewport. She leaned against the bulkhead, savoring the starscape outside. This was her favorite spot on the ship, both for its unique view and its remote location, and she often came here at the end of her duty shift to unwind._

_Earlier in the day._ Voyager _had passed an uninhabited planet with a great amount of volcanic activity. The reddish-brown globe was still visible from here, its sun another, even brighter spot a little farther behind. Soon, both would be no more than small specks of light against the black backdrop of space._

_The unlikely sound of a door swishing open and shut made Kathryn turn in surprise. Footfalls approached, but it took another moment before the individual became visible around the bend in the corridor._

_The man stopped in his tracks, obviously as surprised to see her as she was. "Commander Janeway!"_

_"Captain," she inclined her head, hoping that her suddenly quickening heartbeat would not result in a blush. It had been a week since his visit to the science lab, and there'd been a senior staff meeting almost every day since. On those occasions, the overall challenges of integrating the Maquis crew, repairing damaged and failing systems and generally keeping everyone organized, fed and healthy, had served to keep her thoughts on task. Suddenly finding herself alone with Chakotay in the most remote area on the ship provided no such helpful distractions._

_"What are you doing here?"_

_"I could ask the same of you," she challenged._

_He grinned, leaning against the bulkhead on the other side of the small viewport. "Fair enough. I was checking out the facilities." Seeing her slight frown, he added, "Crewman Chell came to me today with a proposal to turn some of the unused storage spaces into hydroponic areas. He's got some experience as a gardener and thought that growing our own food might help against overtaxing the replicators. He even offered to set up a kitchen of sorts if we can find a suitable space somewhere."_

_"That's actually not a bad idea," Kathryn agreed. "Although I would think that for hydroponics, converting one of the cargo bays might be a better option. The storage areas down here are rather small."_

_Chakotay nodded. "That's what I suspected, but since I hadn't been to this deck yet, I thought I might as well check for myself. Well, that was my reason for coming here – now what's yours?" he grinned again._

_"One night, when I couldn't sleep, I started wandering the decks and found this place," she told him. "We happened to go to warp just then, and seeing the nacelles fold up was rather surprising, so I stayed and watched. Even without taking them into account, the view is rather unique, I think."_

_"You're right, it is beautiful." He gazed out at the stars and the faraway planet, but then suddenly turned to her. "I'm sorry, it only now occurs to me that I intruded on your privacy. If you'd rather be alone, I'll –"_

_She stopped his flow of words by laying a hand on his arm. "No, it's okay. I could probably use the company. Sometimes it gets a little lonely down here." She waited until he nodded his understanding, then dropped her hand and turned back to regarding the stars. He moved to stand behind her right shoulder for a better view, the reflection from his red uniform hovering above her own white off-duty blouse._

_"How come you're still in uniform? Your shift must've been over hours ago."_

_He shrugged a little sheepishly. "I'm still getting used to wearing it again. To my mind, a Starfleet uniform is not just a garment, it's a way of thinking. Of priorities and principles. The physical reminder helps me to get into the mindset again. Without it, I'd probably still be thinking more like a Maquis."_

_"I wouldn't mind seeing you out of uniform sometime," Kathryn said without thinking, and then blushed when she realized her slip._

_"As soon as the holodecks are up and running again, I'd be happy to invite you for a stroll in a park of your choosing – in civvies," he replied, winking at her reflection._

_She smiled, grateful that Chakotay had chosen to take her remark at its most innocent interpretation. He was incredibly easy to talk to, she marveled. Even though they still barely knew each other, there was nothing awkward about their conversation, or the bouts of companionable silence._

_"Can I ask you something?" he ventured after a while._

_"Sure."_

_"How well do you know Commander Tuvok?" When she didn't immediately respond, he added, "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't be asking. It's just that he mentioned having served with you before, and –"_

_"We've been friends for many years," she replied, seeing no harm in sharing the information. "He's the reason why I asked to be assigned to_ Voyager _." She looked over her shoulder, trying to catch his eye. "Are you wondering how a Vulcan could fool you into letting him become part of your Maquis cell?"_

_"Among other things," Chakotay sighed. "I never imagined how frustrating it could be to have a first officer whose guiding principle was logic." He caught himself, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be bothering you with my problems."_

_"It's okay. I don't mind." She had half turned and now found herself very close to him, their faces little more than a hand's breadth apart. "And I promise I won't tell Tuvok that you prefer a reckless gut-feeling approach to his precious logic."_

_Chakotay smiled, a genuine, wide smile that made dimples appear on either side of his mouth. Kathryn was mesmerized by his full, sensuous lips – and then he leaned forward and kissed her._

_He pulled back almost immediately, looking as surprised as she was. "I'm sorry," he stammered, "I don't know what –"_

_"Stop saying you're sorry," she whispered, bringing up one hand to cup his cheek. "Especially when there's nothing to be sorry for." And she pressed her lips to his again._

_This time, the kiss lasted much longer – a slow but thorough exploration of first lips and then teeth and tongues, tasting each other gently and without hurry._

_When she finally drew back, his eyes remained closed, his expression one of quiet joy. Kathryn turned back to the viewport with a hammering heart, hugging herself and wondering what on Earth had possessed her to kiss the captain like that._

_His hands lightly grasped her shoulders from behind, sliding down to her upper arms as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "At the risk of having to apologize again... would you consider joining me in my quarters?"_

_A warm shudder of anticipation spread out from her belly to all areas of her body as she nodded her consent._

_When they entered his quarters a few minutes later, Chakotay called the lights to 25 percent and then turned to Kathryn with an apologetic smile. "I wish I could offer you something – wine, coffee, anything – but I'm afraid all I have is a couple of ration bars."_

_She laughed, feeling the tension dissolve that had built during their turbolift ride. Boldly wrapping her arms around his neck, she offered, "I'll take a rain-check for a three-course meal as soon as the replicators are operational again."_

_"Deal," he murmured just before their lips met again and all thoughts of food were forgotten._

-==/\==-

_Kathryn woke to soft kisses being placed on her eyelids, nose, cheeks and mouth. As she opened her eyes, memories of a night filled with passion rushed into her conscious mind, making her blush._

_"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Chakotay smiled._

_"What time is it?"_

_"Almost time to get up." He pulled her closer, mouth zeroing in on hers. "But not quite." He kissed her, long and slow, making her ache for him all over again._

_The feeling was apparently quite mutual, and soon they were tangled up in each other again, discovering new ways of making the other moan in helpless desire._

_Later, when they were sharing his shower, Chakotay pushed a strand of wet hair out of Kathryn's face, his fingers lingering against her cheek. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but... I'd rather not have the crew know about this."_

_"Are you afraid that our literal approach to 'uniting the two crews' might rub some people the wrong way?" she joked, but he remained serious._

_"Actually, yes. The truce is still fragile, and I don't want to pour oil over glowing embers by letting people think I was playing favorites."_

_His earnest words sobered her mirth. "So... Was this a one-time thing then?" she asked, rubbing shampoo into her hair and trying to keep her voice neutral even though her heart was beating in her throat. She didn't want their affair to be over when it had barely begun._

_Chakotay looked taken aback, as though he hadn't considered the future of their arrangement yet._

_"Please, be honest," she added. "I understand that it's complicated. But last night was... wonderful." That was an understatement. It had been the best sex she'd had in years, possibly ever. "And I for one wouldn't mind a repeat performance."_

_He traced a few bubbles down her collarbone, then looked her straight in the eye. "You want honesty? Alright. This'll probably sound crazy, but I'm madly falling in love with you, Kathryn Janeway. I knew it the moment I met you in the science lab last week, and I haven't been able to get you out of my head since. If we hadn't met by chance last night, I would've sought you out one of these days to ask if you... I mean, to see if..."_

_"If I felt the same way?" she asked, cupping his wet face with both hands. "I do. I can't explain it any more than you can, but I do." She kissed him, a desperate, passionate kiss that was meant to sear his soul._

_They stood together under the falling water, hugging fiercely. Then Chakotay drew back, grinning in a slightly disbelieving sort of way. "So we're agreed on having a secret affair?"_

_Kathryn laughed so hard that she got water down her windpipe and ended up coughing against his chest. "We are," she forced out between spasms. "Oh yes, we are." And she kissed him again._

-==/\==-


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as she'd calmed down sufficiently, Kathryn boarded the turbolift again. B'Elanna's parting words had stirred old wounds, but she managed to put the memories aside for now.

"We picked up a stray," she told Chakotay once he'd called her inside the ready room.

"So it's not our probe?" he asked, frowning as he tried to puzzle out what exactly she was saying.

"It is and it isn't. B'Elanna and I think that it's a _Voyager_ probe alright, but from a parallel universe."

"What makes you think that?"

"The standard greeting talks about the United _Federation_ of Planets, not the Confederation. And the markings on its hull – I'm not sure what it said before the probe was damaged, but it doesn't look like _CSS_ to me."

Chakotay looked skeptical. "Maybe the recorded greeting suffered some degradation and simply lost a syllable?"

"That would be a possibility, yes. But then how would you explain that the voice wasn't yours?"

Now he looked like his curiosity was piqued. "Whose was it? Cavit's?"

"No." Kathryn swallowed hard. "Mine."

Chakotay stared at her, shocked. But then he smiled and lightly shook his head. "You almost had me."

"I'm not joking!" she replied, surprised by her own vehemence. "The message came from a Captain Kathryn Janeway."

This time, he remained silent.

"Call B'Elanna and ask her to play it for you," she insisted.

Still looking doubtful, Chakotay did just that. When the message ended, he was silent again.

"Well?" Kathryn prompted finally.

"It doesn't sound like you."

"It is my voice."

"Yes, it is," he agreed. "But it sounds... Edgier somehow. More assertive."

"Probably a side effect of being in command," she huffed. The fact that he'd thought at first that she was joking irritated her. It wasn't that she thought she should or could be in command of _Voyager_ – no one knew better than herself how preposterous that notion was. But to have that feeling reflected at her by someone else unexpectedly bruised her self-confidence.

Chakotay apparently sensed that he was treading on dangerous ground and tried to steer the conversation back to the problem at hand. "So the wormhole..."

"...seems to connect two parallel universes instead of two different regions in our universe," she finished his thought, grateful for the reprieve. "Of course it could also be both – so far we have no way of knowing if the other _Voyager_ is located at the same coordinates as we are."

"But why was the probe damaged?"

Kathryn shrugged. "That's one of the things B'Elanna is still trying to work out."

"What about those additional scans we took – did they yield any results?"

"I was still analyzing them when B'Elanna called me. With the parallel universe info, I have a new angle to work with."

Chakotay checked his chronometer. "Let's have a staff meeting tomorrow at 1400 hours. Will that give you and B'Elanna enough time to follow up on your theories and present some results?"

Kathryn nodded confidently. "I believe so. I'd like to talk to Ensign Kim about making some adjustments to the holo-emitters in astrometrics, to try and visualize the wormhole."

"Of course."

"Thank you, I'll get right on it."

He reached for her hand, holding her back as she was turning to leave. "Do you expect this project to turn into an all-nighter?"

She bit back a chuckle. Chakotay had learned the hard way that when Kathryn Janeway had a scientific puzzle to solve, food and sleep became time-consuming nuisances, and thus optional.

In the early days of their relationship, she had missed two of their secret dates because she'd been too wrapped up in setting up the astrometrics lab, and then had had to convince him that she'd not lost interest in him already. Considering the speed at which they'd moved from being strangers to colleagues to lovers, his conclusion that 'ex-lovers' was the logical next step had not been all that surprising, but it had served to remind her of the still-fragile nature of their attachment. Luckily, she'd succeeded in reassuring him of her continued interest to his – and her own – breathless satisfaction.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully. "I probably won't be home for dinner."

"Do you mind if I check up on you later?" His thumb stroked over the back of her hand, reminding her how lucky she was to have found him. His patience was endless, never wavering even when she hit one of her stubborn streaks. And he was probably trying to make amends for not taking her seriously earlier.

She squeezed his fingers. "Feel free."

"Should I bring dinner?" His eyes sparkled, knowing he had her now.

She'd be forced to interrupt her work to eat, but could update him on her progress over the course of the meal, could even demonstrate her results right away. It would be a win-win situation for both.

She stepped closer and placed a quick kiss on his lips. "That would be lovely."

He caught her in his arms, seizing the opportunity. They were still as much in love as on the first day, and resisting the urge to touch and caress over the course of the day wasn't always easy.

Another kiss and a long hug later, Kathryn finally left the ready room.

On her way through the bridge, she rounded up Harry Kim and filled him in on the holo-upgrades she had planned.

-==/\==-

Chakotay remained true to his words. At exactly 2030 hours, he entered the astrometrics lab carrying a tray with two covered dishes.

Kathryn eyed the tray dubiously. "When you said you'd bring dinner, I didn't think you meant messhall fare."

"Chell insisted. I compromised by trying it first." Chakotay grinned. "Don't you trust me?"

"You, I would trust blindly. Chell however..." Kathryn lifted one of the lids and sniffed. The food smelled unexpectedly pleasant. "What kind of outrageous name did he come up with this time?"

"'Jeffries Stew-b'." Chakotay chuckled when Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Yes, the menu entries are getting worse. But I would say that the quality of his cooking has been improving lately."

"I heard a rumor that one of the Delaney sister was giving him lessons on Earth cuisine. Maybe it's true." Kathryn gathered up the PADDs littering her workstation to make room for their plates.

As they dove into their food, she noticed that Chakotay kept throwing glances at the holographic display hovering in the middle of the room. "Well, are you going to ask?" she challenged after a while.

"I figured you'd tell me once your stomach stopped growling," he grinned.

"How about you guess first?"

Rising to the challenge, he picked up his plate and continued eating while he rounded the holo-image, studying it from all sides. "This seems to be our location," he began, pointing his fork at one end of a diaphanous funnel-shaped construct. A miniature starship hung suspended right in front of the outlet. "And that's the wormhole. But... why is it broken?" The middle part of the funnel was missing.

"Our scans only protruded a certain way, so we couldn't see beyond that point. Our best guess right now is that somewhere along the way the two universes converge, and that the transition from one to the other was what damaged the probe. However, B'Elanna managed to decrypt the rest of the probe's data." Kathryn pushed her plate to one side so she could enter a series of commands into her console. The holo-image rotated, bringing the far end of the wormhole to the center of the display and enlarging it. Then she pressed a button to highlight one particular section. Several stars lit up, and another small _Voyager_ blinked into existence.

"Before the probe entered the wormhole, it took a brief scan of its surroundings. I've run a comparison against all the data we gathered in the past six months, plus whatever we had on file from the Confederation database." She paused for effect, waiting until Chakotay turned toward her with an expectant look. "It doesn't match anything on record." She gestured toward the small ship. "I have no idea where they are. For all I know, they could be lost in the Gamma Quadrant instead of Delta. Or maybe they're not lost at all."

"But is that plausible?" Chakotay circled the display again. "From all I know about parallel universes, it seems like there's always some measure of correlation, no matter how small."

"That's what I thought as well," Kathryn nodded. "But if they are 'merely' ahead of us or traveling on a different vector, they're still at least thirty lightyears away. That's as far as our current charts show."

Chakotay whistled through his teeth. "We need to figure out a way to communicate with them. The exchange could be invaluable." He turned to put down his now empty plate but stopped in his tracks when he saw Kathryn's expression. "What's wrong?"

"We might need to be cautious."

"Why?"

"The scan data the probe carried was encrypted, which is standard procedure. The encryption algorithm was anything but standard though. That's why it took B'Elanna so long to break it."

He stepped up close to her, looking worried. "Tell me."

Kathryn swallowed hard. "Part of the algorithm was Borg."

"Borg?!" He turned to look at the display again. "Then maybe we should get out of here as fast as possible."

"The rest of the probe is standard Confederation technology," Kathryn hastened to add. "B'Elanna said there's no indication for nanoprobes or any other kind of Borg influence."

"Is she sure?"

"Quite sure. Otherwise she'd have told you as soon as she found it."

"Sometimes I wonder what the two of you cook up behind my back," Chakotay mused. "Any other surprises?"

"Not so far."

"I hope that's a good sign." He stacked their empty plates on the tray and then looked up again. "Are you done for tonight?"

Kathryn shook her head. "B'Elanna isolated the probe's quantum signature and our own. I want to feed that info to our instruments and scan the wormhole again."

"What do you expect to find?" Chakotay frowned.

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. But it seems worth a try."

"Alright." He leaned over to kiss her and then picked up the tray. "Don't stay too long."

She smiled. "I'll try."

As soon as he had left, she turned back to her work. The Borg threat worried him, she could tell. B'Elanna had been adamant that the probe possessed no further Borg characteristics, but the mystery remained. Why would a Starfleet ship use a Borg encryption?

Three hours later, Kathryn was no closer to solving this mystery or any other. Her scanning for quantum signatures had yielded no results at all, and the wormhole kept defying her attempts at reading further inside than a few hundred kilometers. With a deep sigh, she finally turned off the holo-projectors and went home to the quarters she shared with Chakotay.

-==/\==-

Chakotay was propped up on his side, reading a PADD that he'd leaned against Kathryn's pillow.

As she slipped into bed, she snatched the PADD away and pushed Chakotay over onto his back, covering his body with hers.

"Hey!" he protested, laughing. "I was reading that!"

"You can finish it later," she purred, head dipping down to nuzzle the side of his neck. His hands moved down her body, kneading her back in loving caresses.

She looked up again. "I have a question for you,"

"Shoot."

"If events had happened differently, and we had somehow ended up with me commanding _Voyager_ – would you have served under me?"

"I am frequently serving under you," he grinned, bucking his hips to emphasize his point.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it," she chastised.

His reply was a noncommital hum, with his hands slowly sliding down over her buttocks, his intentions clear.

She gave in to the distraction, shifting her body to allow him to slide into her as she kissed him. They rocked together, slowly at first, breaths accelerating and turning into moans as their rhythm quickened. Yet even at the height of passion, Kathryn couldn't quite shake the nagging question at the back of her mind.

"Would you?" she breathed, stopping her movements, momentarily ignoring her body's silent scream of protest.

Chakotay was panting, his body trembling beneath hers. "Kathryn, please. Can we talk about this later?" His fingers dug into her hips, pulling her against him in desperate need.

Even though her mind protested, she gave in again, her own need dictating her motions. Concentrating on him, on their connection and the way he made her feel, she succeeded in silencing the voice in her head for the moment. Letting the sensations wash over her, she spiraled higher and higher, taking him with her to a shuddering, breathless peak.

Afterward, they lay tangled together, facing each other on the pillow. Chakotay's eyes were drooping, but Kathryn still couldn't let the question go.

"Would you?" she repeated softly.

His eyes opened, his look one of exasperated indulgence. "Would I have served as _Voyager_ 's first officer if you had been her captain?" he clarified, and she nodded. He considered the question and finally shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning your abilities or motivation," he hastened to add. "Rather, I'm questioning mine."

Kathryn frowned. "I don't understand."

Chakotay's hand came up to caress her face, then slowly slid down her body. "In all the myriad of parallel universes, I can't see myself not falling in love with you," he declared, leaning closer to place a tender kiss on her lips. "And if I were the first officer to your captain, we could never have this."

Her frown deepened. "I know it would be against Starfleet regulations, but surely in a situation like ours, there'd be room for exceptions."

"That's not the point." Chakotay propped himself up on one elbow and looked down on her, his free hand once again caressing her bare skin. "How could I be your lover at night, and then oppose any of your decisions on the bridge during the day? The conflict of interests would be unavoidable."

"We disagree sometimes," she pointed out.

"Yes, but we still have Tuvok between us in the chain of command. Without him as a neutral buffer, things might also be more difficult for us."

"So what if I had been _Voyager_ 's first officer and had survived the displacement wave – would you still have accepted the captain's position?" she challenged.

Chakotay flopped back, expelling a frustrated breath. "That question isn't fair. You might as well ask what would have happened had Cavit survived the Kazon attack. I'd probably be confined to the brig along with all the other Maquis, and the two of us would never even have met."

Kathryn stared at the ceiling, thinking back to those tenuous first days in the Delta Quadrant.

When the Caretaker's displacement wave had hit _Voyager_ , almost a quarter of the crew had died, among them the ship's first officer. Captain Cavit had been injured, but still fit to command. He'd used a trick to convince Chakotay to beam aboard _Voyager_ , intending to arrest him on the spot. Only Tuvok's intervention had prevented the coup. The Vulcan had then performed another miracle by convincing the two men to lay aside their differences long enough to investigate the Caretaker's array and the Ocampa homeworld, and to rescue missing crew members from both their ships. In the ensuing firefight with the Kazon, Cavit had been killed, leaving _Voyager_ entirely without a command team.

The _Val Jean_ had also been damaged, but it was nothing that B'Elanna and her comrades wouldn't have been able to fix. Chakotay had been about to take his leave and chance his crew's survival in this unknown quadrant when, once again, Tuvok had intervened. As _Voyager_ 's second officer, he would have been within his rights to assume command of the ship. Instead, he'd offered the captaincy to Chakotay and proposed merging the Starfleet and Maquis crews, for a better chance at survival against unknown foes. After some deliberation, Chakotay had grudgingly accepted the Vulcan's logic and convinced his crew to follow his lead.

Chakotay was shifting, aligning his body with hers and pulling her into his arms. Kathryn didn't resist. Their greatest strength as a couple was that, not matter how fierce an argument they might have, they were always quick to make up.

"Why this sudden fixation with our command structure?" he asked, dropping a kiss on her brow. "Is it because of her? Does she make you feel... inferior somehow?"

"No!" Kathryn was quick to protest, but she knew that wasn't the whole truth. "She... makes me question myself," she amended. "Makes me wonder whether the choices I made were always the right ones."

"Is there any choice in particular you're wondering about?"

"Yes." Her admittance was barely above a whisper. "And I wonder if she was faced with the same dilemma, and maybe chose differently."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Her tone left no room for discussion.

Chakotay didn't press for details. "Maybe you'll get a chance to ask her." He paused, then ventured, "Do you want to know how she makes _me_ feel?"

Kathryn nodded.

"Curious. Apprehensive. If she's the captain, what am I? Where am I – am I even aboard, possibly in the brig?"

"No, not the brig," Kathryn stated with conviction.

Chakotay chuckled. "How can you be so sure?"

"I would never –"

"Maybe _you_ wouldn't, but can you really speak for _her_?"

"But the brig is for criminals."

"I was a criminal," he reminded her. "Most likely still am in the eyes of Starfleet. I'm not counting on receiving a commendation for taking over their ship, even if I manage to lead _Voyager_ home eventually."

They'd rarely talked about what might happen once they reached the Alpha Quadrant, and Kathryn didn't feel like opening that particular can of worms tonight. "I won't let them take you," she yawned, snuggling deeper into his embrace.

Shortly afterwards, they both slept.

-==/\==-


	6. Chapter 6

_They'd gone undetected for almost three months. Every now and then, there was a rumor flying around about the captain having taken up with one or another of_ Voyager _'s female crew members, but the rumors always died almost as soon as they appeared. B'Elanna Torres made sure of that, her loyalty to Chakotay so absolute that Kathryn sometimes wondered whether the chief engineer wasn't secretly pining for her old Maquis comrade herself._

_It was one day over lunch in the mess hall, that B'Elanna breached the subject._

_"I think Chakotay finally found a girlfriend," she announced as soon as she sat down across from Kathryn, the dark green soup on her plate threatening to spill from her energetic approach._

_The science officer raised an eyebrow in questioning, very glad that her mouthful of food prevented her from having to answer directly._

_B'Elanna leaned closer, lowering her voice. "We were playing hoverball today, and I noticed that he's got a hickey on his neck!"_

_Kathryn almost spit out her food. With an effort, she swallowed and then spoke. "Are you sure?" Inwardly, she berated herself for having gotten careless. The hickey would be covered by Chakotay's uniform collar, but she'd completely forgotten about his weekly sports match with B'Elanna._

_"Quite sure," the engineer said, dubiously eyeing her soup. "I should have gotten what you have. What did Chell call it?"_

_"Chicken Warp Core-don Bleu'. It sounded more palatable than 'Plasma Leek Soup'." She toyed with her food, thinking about what to say. "What if... it was just a one-time thing?"_

_B'Elanna vehemently shook her head, finally having mustered the courage to try her soup. "Chakotay was never one for one-night stands."_

_"Considering that you claim that nothing ever happened between the two of you, you seem to know quite a bit about his love life," Kathryn observed._

_B'Elanna put her spoon down and lowered her voice even further. "Chakotay once rescued me from a very bad spot. If it hadn't been for him, I would probably have ended up beaten and raped in an alleyway. It took me years to trust another man again, but Chakotay was the exception. I knew he would never touch me." She breathed deeply, the words having come out in a rush._

_Kathryn didn't quite know what to say, but she reached over and squeezed B'Elanna's arm in silent support and understanding._

_The other woman smiled slightly and nodded in appreciation of the gesture. "Over the years, we fell into a brother-sister relationship. Usually, he tells me all about his relationships, but he's kind of closed himself off after Seska."_

_"Seska?" Kathryn asked, glad that the conversation had shifted away from the treacherous hickey._

_B'Elanna snorted. "She joined us last year. Bajoran, an engineer like me. We got along fine, even became friends, until she got it in her head to pursue Chakotay. He fancied himself in love with her, but she only used him, trying to demand privileges on account of being 'the captain's woman'."_

_Kathryn's heart sank. "How did he take it?"_

_"Badly, I'm afraid. He finally ditched her, and we left her with another cell. She kept spitting venom until we were out of earshot."_

_"That must've been terrible."_

_"It was, for all of us." B'Elanna finally took up her spoon again and continued eating, only grimacing slightly. "As far as I know, he's been single ever since. Until now."_

_"But are you sure?" Kathryn asked, pushing her plate away and taking a sip of water. "I mean, did you ask him about it?"_

_"I did, but he would only confirm that he was indeed seeing someone. I've been trying to figure out who –" The spoon suddenly hit the soup with a splash, and the half-Klingon stared at her friend, open-mouthed. "It's you."_

_"What makes you say that?" Kathryn tried to deflect her scrutiny, but she couldn't help the blush that was spreading up her neck._

_B'Elanna sat back, laughing incredulously. "It's really you, isn't it? I never considered you because he usually prefers blondes, but it makes so much sense... When we met for dinner last week, he couldn't stop talking about you." She leaned in again. "How long?"_

_Denial was not an option. Keeping their relationship from the public eye was one thing, but Kathryn wouldn't lie to her best friend, and Chakotay's. "Three months."_

_"Three_ months _?!" The engineer was momentarily struck speechless. "And all this time I was feeling sorry for him," she finally muttered._

 _"We agreed to keep it secret," Kathryn tried to explain. "He'd just taken over_ Voyager _, there was still too much animosity between the two crews."_

_"He could have told me... No, strike that. We would have talked about it, and someone might have heard." She looked around. "In fact, someone might've heard just now."_

_"We've been careful, but there was always the possibility that someone would find out." Kathryn smiled a lop-sided smile. "You're the first, as far as I'm aware."_

_B'Elanna grasped her friend's hand and squeezed it hard. "Please believe me when I say that I'm happy for you. For the both of you. Chakotay is a great guy."_

_"I know."_

_"Just don't break his heart," B'Elanna warned. "Or you'll have to answer to me."_

_"I'll keep that in mind," Kathryn laughed, picking up her fork again and diving back into her food with renewed appetite._

_One down, a hundred and fifty to go. She could only hope that the rest of the crew would be as accepting of her and Chakotay's relationship as the chief engineer was._

-==/\==-


	7. Chapter 7

The next day's senior staff meeting was held in the astrometrics lab, where Kathryn presented all the findings that she'd told Chakotay about the previous evening. B'Elanna Torres added her report on the probe and everyone looked mystified when she explained about the Borg algorithm she'd found.

Just when Chakotay had opened the floor for discussion, a somewhat frantic call from the bridge interrupted the proceedings. "Rollins to Captain Chakotay. Sir, there's something coming out of the wormhole again!”

At once, everyone scrambled for the door.

"We're on our way, Lieutenant,” Chakotay called out, as he sprinted for the nearest turbolift, Tuvok and Harry Kim hard on his heels. "Go to yellow alert and raise shields.”

Rollins' reply was lost in the general shuffle.

Kathryn managed to squeeze into the lift just before the door closed. The tension was palpable as they sped towards _Voyager_ 's uppermost deck. Chakotay looked grim, probably questioning his decision to hold the meeting in astrometrics, eight decks down. If they'd convened in the briefing room as usual, the bridge would have been only a few steps away.

The lift door opened. Rollins jumped up from the captain's chair before Chakotay could even call for a report. "Captain, it seems to be another probe!”

"Scan for the quantum signature,” Kathryn said hurriedly.

Chakotay nodded at Kim who'd just taken over his station. "Do it.”

After another few tense seconds, the ops officer looked up in surprise. "Captain, it's _our_ probe. The one we sent out yesterday. Quantum signature is a clear match. Only…” he frowned, tapping a few buttons, then looked up again. "It seems to have been modified.”

"Modified how?”

The image on the viewscreen jumped, zooming in on the small object.

"It's undamaged,” Kathryn breathed, by now having reached the science station where she could run her own scans. "The hull has been reinforced somehow to withstand the transitional shear.”

"Captain,” Kim interrupted. "The probe is hailing us.”

Chakotay took his seat. "Let's hear it.”

"There's a visual component as well.”

The captain half-turned, catching Kim's eye. "Then put it on the viewscreen.”

"Of course,” the young ensign replied, looking flustered. "Here we go.”

The viewscreen sprang to life. Kathryn gaped at the image, and several gasps could be heard around the bridge.

"Captain Chakotay,” the woman in the command-red uniform began, "I hope this message finds you well. We were quite surprised when we picked up your probe, and I trust the feeling was mutual.” She smiled. "In case it isn't obvious, I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship _Voyager_.”

"Pause message,” Chakotay suddenly said. Janeway's image froze. He rose and approached the viewscreen, then turned to regard Kathryn. "She looks older than you,” he observed, frowning, echoing the very thought Kathryn had had the moment her alter ego appeared on the screen.

"That's because she is,” Harry Kim spoke up, causing everyone to look at him. "The timestamp on the message is stardate 54863.4.”

"But that's six years from now,” Veronica Stadi said, speaking for the first time since the senior staff's return to the bridge. "How can that be?”

Kathryn's fingers flew over her console, calling up data. "Of course,” she muttered to herself, not bothering to hide her annoyance. "We should have thought of that!”

"Thought of what?” Chakotay asked, his voice sharper than usual.

"Temporal displacement! We were so focused on the aspect of parallel universes that we never even considered a temporal component.” She hit one final button and watched the data scrolling across her screen. "There! Scans confirm it – the wormhole is teeming with chroniton particles. It is quite literally a door to not only a different place, but also a different time.”

Silence descended on the bridge as everybody digested the news.

Kim was the first to speak again. "So, in six years… Commander Janeway will be _Voyager_ 's captain?” he asked, bewildered. "What about Commander Tuvok? What about any of us?”

"Let us not jump to conclusions, Ensign,” Tuvok interjected. "In a parallel universe, their command structure may be quite different from ours. So far we only know for certain that Kathryn Janeway is their captain six years from now. Whether any of the other posts aboard her _Voyager_ are held by any of our counterparts still remains to be seen.”

"Right,” Chakotay said, facing forward again. "And I'm hoping that this message will provide some answers to our questions. Resume playback.”

The alternate Janeway stirred back to live, still smiling. "Your probe was severely damaged when it exited the wormhole, but we managed to repair and reinforce it, so we hope that it will survive the return trip intact. My science and engineering teams came to the preliminary conclusion that the wormhole's diameter is too small to allow _Voyager_ to safely pass through, so we decided to try and establish communication by given means.” Her smile widened. "I have to say, the Delta Quadrant just doesn't cease to surprise me. Over the years, there were many times I wished for another Starfleet ship, another member of the Federation family to help us make our way through the more dangerous parts of this unknown quadrant.” Her gaze turned wistful. "But when you finally get what you want, it doesn't always turn out the way you envisioned it.” She paused, seeming lost in thought.

Something in the other Janeway's tone made Kathryn suspect that she wasn't talking about the current situation, but that at some time during their journey the other _Voyager_ had indeed met another Starfleet ship, and that the encounter had gone badly. Before she could dwell further on that thought, the captain went on.

"Anyway, considering that we're all members of Starfleet, my senior officers and I have concluded that there will be no harm in sharing some information. So as a show of our trust and goodwill, we include our full crew manifest with this probe, as well as a selection of logs and scans. Please review and evaluate them. We would very much appreciate receiving the same information from you, and anything else you are willing to share, by return of probe.” She nodded to herself, as if confirming that she'd relayed everything she wanted to say. "Captain Chakotay, it would be a great pleasure and honor to share your experiences. We eagerly await your reply.” The message ended, the screen returning to the image of the slowly swirling wormhole aperture.

Chakotay stood. "Lieutenant Ayala, is there any indication for weaponry on that probe?”

"Negative, Captain,” the chief tactical officer replied immediately.

"Any indication for Borg technology?” Chakotay asked next, his eyes swiveling to Harry Kim.

"No, Sir.”

Chakotay breathed deeply. "Alright, bring it in. Have all the data downloaded and forwarded to the ready room as soon as possible. Lieutenant Stadi, back us up two hundred thousand kilometers. I don't want that timewarp getting too close to us until we know what exactly we're dealing with.”

"But –" Kathryn began, intending to protest that proximity to the wormhole would facilitate gathering new data in the wake of the latest revelations. But when Chakotay looked at her, she backed down, reading in his eyes that this time, he was not willing to compromise in the name of science.

"Engage,” he said.

"Backing up,” Stadi confirmed. A few moments later, the aperture collapsed in on itself, leaving only darkness in its place.

-==/\==-

Chakotay was late getting home that night. Kathryn resisted the urge to call and ask what he was doing. She'd already asked the computer three times to confirm his location, and always the reply had been the same: Captain Chakotay was in the ready room. No doubt he was still reviewing the other _Voyager_ 's data.

Kathryn had met with B'Elanna for dinner, but the engineer hadn't been able to tell her much. The probe was definitely their own, but the hull had been reinforced by an alloy unknown to Starfleet engineering specs. The data encryption had not contained any Borg algorithms this time – "As if they wanted to make absolutely sure that we'd be able to read what they sent us,” B'Elanna had snorted, irritated with the notion that whoever her counterpart was, this person had considered the possibility of them _not_ being able to break the encryption.

Chakotay still had not returned by the time Kathryn went to bed. She was terribly curious to know more about Captain Janeway and her ship, and lay awake for a long time trying to conjure up visions of life aboard the other _Voyager_. Would she even know all of the crew members? Were the Maquis part of their crew as well? And after more than six years in the Delta Quadrant, what shape would the ship be in?

Just when she was finally drifting into sleep, the outer door opened and she heard Chakotay entering their quarters. He rummaged around in the darkness before quietly padding into the bathroom, no doubt thinking that she was sleeping.

Even though she fought to stay awake, she was drifting off again by the time he finally slipped into bed. "Hey,” she said sleepily.

"Hey,” he replied just as softly, draping his arm around her back as she snuggled into his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you.”

"You didn't,” she yawned and he chuckled, pulling her closer to drop a kiss on her forehead. "So, did you learn anything interesting?”

"A great deal. I just released the crew manifest for everyone to peruse, so you can see for yourself tomorrow.”

"I want to know now.” She was coming more awake by the moment. "Please tell me – is there another Chakotay on that _Voyager_?”

"Yes, there is.”

She waited for him to elaborate and finally prompted, "And? Is he in the brig like you feared?”

"No.” He paused again, then sighed. "He's the first officer.”

Now Kathryn was fully awake. "But you said –"

"I know.” She could hear the confusion in his voice. "And what's more, their command structure has always been like that, from the time they entered the Delta Quadrant and merged their crews. Captain Janeway and First Officer Chakotay.” He turned to her in the darkness. "Six years, Kathryn.”

She brought up her hand to stroke his stubbly face, tracing the line of his jaw. "Apparently they found a way to make it work.”

"I'm not so sure about that.”

"What do you mean?”

"I looked at _everything_ they sent. The crew manifest, selected logs, star charts – you're going to love those, you can follow their way across the Delta Quadrant for the past six years. They actually passed by not far from here, but didn't notice the wormhole at the time. And then there were photos, about two dozen of them. Celebrations, holodeck outings, all sorts of things. By the way, do you play pool?”

Surprised, Kathryn replied, "I do, yes.”

"Are you good?”

"Why?”

"Because Captain Kathryn Janeway apparently won the _Voyager_ pool tournament at least twice in a row.” There was a chuckle in Chakotay's voice. "To the great chagrin of her strongest opponent, one Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris.”

"Tom Paris? I know a Tom Paris. I served under his father.” Kathryn thought for a moment. "How did he come to be on _Voyager_? Last I heard, I think he was sent to prison somewhere.”

"I don't know, the logs didn't say.” He caught her hand and placed small kisses against her fingertips. "But anyway, back to our own alter egos… None of the logs or photos indicated any kind of attachment between them beyond their professional relationship.”

"The could be keeping it secret, like we did,” she objected.

"Yes, they could,” he agreed. "But somehow, I don't think so.”

"Are you going to ask him?” When Chakotay didn't reply, she lifted her head, although she couldn't make out his eyes in the darkness. "We are going to reply to their message, aren't we?”

"Yes, of course.” The arm around her back tightened, coaxing her to lie down again, her head on his chest. "When I released the crew manifest, I told everyone they were welcome to submit messages to their counterparts, or anyone else they would like to contact.”

"So are you going to ask him?”

"I don't think so. I mean, I don't want to presume knowing his feelings when I know almost nothing about him.”

She lifted her head again, seeking his lips for a lingering kiss. "Aren't you at least curious?” she whispered against his mouth.

"Immensely…” He responded to her kiss, but then drew back, sighing. "I'm sorry, I'm dead tired.”

"That's okay.” She cuddled up against him and he wrapped both arms around her, his cheek resting against her hair.

Soon, his breathing deepened as he drifted into sleep. Kathryn however lay awake for some time, thinking about what she was going to ask Captain Janeway, and how much she was willing to reveal about herself.

-==/\==-


	8. Chapter 8

_Kathryn's bedroom door banged open._

_"You're getting up_ now _!” a stern female voice demanded._

_Kathryn didn't even stir._

_"Kathryn!” There was a yank on her blanket._

_"What?” she mumbled, burying deeper into her pillow._

_"You need to get up!”_

_Kathryn cracked open one eye. Her sister was standing in front of her bed, hands on her hips in exasperated Janeway fashion. "Why?”_

_"Mom just got a call from Starfleet Medical. You missed your last three counseling appointments!”_

_"I'm not going anymore,” she replied mildly, closing her eye again and turning away from her younger sibling._

_Her mattress dipped as Phoebe sat on the side of her bed. A hand rubbed gently along Kathryn's back._

_"Why aren't you going anymore?” When there was no reply, Phoebe's voice turned more insistent. "Kathryn, please. At least talk to me.”_

_"That's all everybody wants to do, talk, talk, talk,” Kathryn exploded, sitting up so suddenly that her sister almost fell backwards. "But you know what? Talking doesn't help! It won't bring them back! So why should I keep going there for more?”_

_"I know it won't bring them back,” Phoebe replied quietly. "But it'll help you deal with –"_

_Kathryn angrily smoothed down her blanket. "I don't want to deal with anything. I just want to forget. Now leave me alone, I'm tired.”_

_She made to lie back down, but Phoebe grasped her arm. "They're going to discharge you.”_

_"What are you talking about?”_

_"The doctor that called mom. He said if you don't come to your next appointment, he'll have no choice but to declare you permanently unfit for duty. They're going to kick you out of Starfleet, Kathryn!”_

_She tried to muster some kind of feeling – shock maybe? or at least surprise? – but there was nothing, not the slightest stirring of any kind of emotion. So she just shrugged._

_Phoebe stared at her, clearly shocked. "You can't mean that.”_

_Kathryn shrugged again._

_"What would daddy say?”_

_"Daddy is dead,” Kathryn said with finality. "So it doesn't matter.”_

_"Oh, but it does!” Phoebe grasped Kathryn's shoulders and shook her. "You've got to wake up, Kathryn! Daddy and Justin are dead, yes. But_ you _are still alive! Do you really think that they would want you to just throw your life away? To let yourself be kicked out of Starfleet without at least putting up a fight? I don't think they would approve of your behavior right now.”_

_Unexpectedly, tears sprang to Kathryn's eyes. She fought to hold them back, but they spilled down her cheeks and dripped onto her nightgown. "How do you do it?” she whispered. "Don't you miss him?”_

_"I miss him every day.” Phoebe pulled Kathryn into her arms and held tight. "But I've accepted the fact that he's dead. And Justin, too. I know it's more difficult for you, because you loved them both. But Starfleet was important to them, and I thought it was important to you, too. Shouldn't you at least try to uphold that legacy?”_

_Kathryn was crying silently against her sister's shoulder, feeling long-suppressed emotions breaking free from the shell she'd constructed around them. Phoebe continued to hold her until her tears finally subsided, giving way to a first small, tentative smile._

_Three days later, Kathryn resumed her counseling sessions at Starfleet Medical. She tried to be more open-minded to the process, and thinking about her father's dedication to Starfleet strengthened her resolve to heal._

_One recurring topic of conversation with her counselors involved the question of whether Kathryn could have prevented the deaths of her father and fiancé. Only gradually did she accept the fact that she would never get a definite answer, and that in the eyes of Starfleet, she wasn't to blame for being the sole survivor of their ship's crash on Tau Ceti Prime._

_One bright, spring morning, she once again approached the building that housed Starfleet Medical Headquarters. Six weeks had passed since Phoebe had managed to rouse her from her depressive state, and this day would decide her future in Starfleet._

_Kathryn nervously smoothed down her red uniform. She knew that a panel of officers would be waiting for her, but she had no idea what their questions would entail. Taking one last deep breath, she stepped up to the sliding door and into the building._

_An hour later, she felt almost home free. Most of the questions had been easy, and she had replied in calm, measured tones. The officers questioning her hadn't exactly smiled, but she'd seen some of them nodding slightly as they took notes of her replies._

_"Lieutenant Janeway,” a tall Vulcan woman was saying, drawing Kathryn's attention. Vice Admiral T'Nera was the panel's chairperson and had stayed mostly silent throughout the proceedings. "It is my impression, and your doctor's reports confirm it, that you are indeed fit to return to active duty.”_

_Kathryn almost sighed with relief._

_"However,” the Vulcan continued, "one question remains.”_

_"Yes, Admiral?”_

_"Will you be continuing your career on the command track, or in the science division?”_

_Kathryn's brain froze momentarily, then switched into overdrive._

_The question wasn't new, in fact she herself had doubted during more than one counseling session whether she was really cut out to remain on the command track. Yet her counselors had always reassured her that she didn't need to decide right away, so she'd pushed the question aside time and again. Her red uniform was familiar, comforting, a reminder of her father that she wasn't ready to relinquish. Now, she felt like she'd been blindsided._

_Her father's voice echoed in her head, from a long-ago conversation._ Why do you want to switch to command?

Because I want to make a difference, _she'd replied._ Like you.

_She'd thought that being in command, bearing authority, would mean freedom to decide, to do the right thing. She'd discovered the hard way that authority also meant responsibility and, at times, liability._

_Was command really the only way to make a difference? If she made it to the top, she would wield a certain amount of power, but that power would come at a price. Every commanding officer was responsible for the well-being of their crew, and sometimes the needs of the many had to outweigh the needs of the few – down to the last, desperate consequence. She'd barely survived losing her father and fiancé – how would she deal with possibly having to order someone to their death?_

_Kathryn looked at the people sitting in front of her. Beside the vice admiral, there were two captains and three commanders, representing all division colors. She knew there were doctors who commanded medical relief vessels, and scientists commanding research outposts throughout the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. There was a career to be had in science, if she chose to. But in terms of actual power and influence, her options would be limited._

_"Lieutenant?” T'Nera prompted, one eyebrow raised._

_It was a split-second decision. She opened her mouth, fully intending to request remaining on the command track. Instead, the words that came out were, "With your permission, Admiral, I'd like to return to the science division.”_

_The Vulcan made a quick note on her PADD. "Permission granted. Lieutenant Janeway, I hereby reinstate you to active duty, assignment pending. You should receive your travel orders within the week.”_

_Five minutes later, Kathryn found herself outside the building again, terribly confused and with the words 'You're such a coward!' firmly echoing in her mind._

-==/\==-


	9. Chapter 9

Halfway through alpha shift, the probe was sent back into the wormhole. Kathryn watched the launch from her monitor in astrometrics, still uncertain what to make of the ship waiting on the other side of the spatial phenomenon.

When she went to the mess hall for a late lunch, the space was decidedly more crowded than usual. Everyone was talking about the other _Voyager_ and her crew. Once she had collected her meal, Kathryn spotted an empty seat next to Harry Kim.

The operations officer was deep in conversation with B'Elanna Torres and Veronica Stadi, shaking his head at something the chief engineer had said. "I don't think any captain would allow that."

"Allow what?" Kathryn asked as she pulled out the chair and sat down.

B'Elanna looked up. "I was speculating about the extent of Borg technology the other _Voyager_ might have integrated into their systems."

"And I was trying to tell her that any sensible captain would balk at the idea," Harry interrupted, then caught himself as he realized who he was talking to. "Sorry, Commander, I didn't mean to say..."

"No need to apologize," Kathryn assured him. "I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that my alter ego is commanding the ship."

"What do you think happened?" Veronica Stadi asked. "There must be a major difference between our universes to cause such a shift in the command structure."

"I have no idea," Kathryn lied. This was the last topic she wanted to discuss. "Why do you think it so unlikely that they would adapt Borg technology?" she asked Harry, hoping to steer the conversation back to the question at hand. "They integrated two former Borg drones into their crew, one even at senior staff level. It would be only logical to use their knowledge."

"Especially after almost seven years in the Delta Quadrant," B'Elanna added. "I really don't want to think about the state their warp drive must be in, or any of the other systems."

"I get all of that, the need to use available resources, or to adapt their technology," Harry replied. "But Borg? I think I'd be constantly looking over my shoulder, expecting assimilation tubes to sprout from any access panel." He visibly shuddered.

The three women laughed.

"Seriously!" Harry insisted. "Aren't you the least bit concerned?"

"I think you're overreacting," Veronica said. "I'm sure that Borg – Seven of Ten or something? – is perfectly safe, or they wouldn't allow her access to any systems."

B'Elanna snorted. "Safe? Have you looked at her picture? Half the men aboard are probably drooling when she enters a room. I mean, why did they have to put her in a suit like that?"

"She's not Starfleet, so she wouldn't be allowed to wear a uniform," Harry pointed out, but he was blushing.

"There's probably a medical explanation for that suit," Kathryn offered. "It looked to me like it has stabilizing elements, most likely to make up for the removed Borg exoskeleton."

B'Elanna still looked doubtful. "If she was Borg for so long, do you think she still needs to regenerate? I wish I'd thought of that before I recorded my message. I could've asked if they actually installed regeneration chambers and how they're powered."

"What did you talk about in your message?" Having finished her meal, Veronica pushed her plate away. "And who did you send it to – your counterpart or someone else?"

"The other Torres. I asked mainly engineering questions – what's their warp drive efficiency, how did they deal with dilithium crystal degeneration, have they found any means to enhance propulsion, that sort of thing." The chief engineer shrugged.

"What about personal questions?" At B'Elanna's blank look, Harry elaborated, "For example, I asked my counterpart if he also played the clarinet and if maybe he'd found some good new tunes to practice. I also asked if he thought Libby was still waiting." He blushed again.

Veronica smiled sympathetically. "You're such a romantic, Harry. I really hope she doesn't break your heart."

Shrugging self-consciously, Harry went back to his food.

"I sent a message to their pilot, Thomas Paris," Veronica went on. "I figured since we both don't have counterparts on the other ship, he might like to compare notes on navigational issues and such."

"That was very thoughtful of you." Kathryn still remembered her own shock at discovering that the other Stadi had not survived the violent trip into the Delta Quadrant. "How are you feeling?"

The Betazoid woman shrugged. "I'm glad to be alive – I guess even more now that I know that in some universes, I didn't make it. I honestly never thought about it before in those terms."

"We're certainly glad to have you with us." Kathryn gave the pilot's arm a quick squeeze. "You steered us through some tight spots that we might not have escaped from otherwise."

"Hear, hear," Harry agreed, lifting his glass in a toast. The others quickly joined in.

Chell chose that moment to appear at their table, carrying a tray laden with rainbow-colored pastries. They each took one, waited until the Bolian had turned to away to the next customers, and simultaneously bit into the fluffy concoctions.

B'Elanna grimaced but continued chewing while Veronica surreptitiously spit her mouthful into a napkin.

"This is awful," Kathryn agreed, swallowing with difficulty and dropping the bright red sponge cake on her empty plate.

"The blue ones aren't half bad." Harry held up his own muffin-like choice. "But I do wonder if the other crew are any happier with their cook."

"We haven't met any Talaxians yet," B'Elanna mused. "I wonder why."

Harry shook his head. "That's not true. We did meet that Neelix person, shortly before we arrived at the Ocampa homeworld." He looked to Veronica for confirmation. "Do you remember?"

"That's right," the young woman nodded slowly. "We detected his ship in that debris field and hailed him. But as far as I recall, Captain Cavit sent him on his way as soon as it became clear that he didn't have any information that would've helped us."

"So the other _Voyager_ apparently took him aboard instead, and later he was invited to stay. They probably figured he might make a good guide, considering that Starfleet has no prior records on the Delta Quadrant." Kathryn privately thought that picking up a DQ native was a very sensible choice under the circumstances, and wondered if that had been her counterpart's thinking as well.

"Sounds like Captain Janeway has more appreciation for the local populace than Captain Cavit did," Veronica echoed her thoughts, chuckling. "So, Kathryn, what did you ask her about? I'm sure we'd all like to know her recipe for keeping _Voyager_ intact and thriving for more than six years!"

A sudden hush fell over the table as everyone looked at Kathryn.

She'd been hoping to avoid the topic, but now that the question had been asked, she saw no graceful way out. "I didn't send a message."

Her three lunch companions stared open-mouthed.

"Why not?" B'Elanna finally asked. "I would've thought you of all people would be most curious to know more about what's different in their universe."

Kathryn wasn't sure how to answer, because she wasn't entirely sure what had kept her from composing the message. Was she intimidated by her counterpart's higher rank, as Chakotay had suggested? Or just unwilling to face the realization that a decision she had shied away from twelve years ago had led to a successful career for her other self? "I couldn't make up my mind what to say," she finally ventured, thinking that the statement wasn't even a lie.

"Maybe the captain will send you a message," Veronica suggested. "Then you can just take it from there."

Kathryn shrugged. "She's probably too busy. We'll see."

B'Elanna was still looking at her askance, and Kathryn wondered if the half-Klingon remembered her quick exit from engineering two days before. To her credit, the other woman didn't mention the incident.

Apparently sensing the sudden tension, the Betazoid pilot once again shifted the focus of the conversation. "I couldn't believe that they made the Emergency Medical Hologram their resident chief medical officer. Can you imagine?"

Grateful for the diversion, Kathryn vigorously shook her head. "I felt really sorry for the crew when I read it. The few times that we've had to use our EMH, I did my best to escape from sickbay as quickly as possible."

The others chuckled.

"We're lucky to have Lissa," B'Elanna agreed. "Did you know that she joined our cell only a week before the Caretaker snatched us all?"

Kathryn nodded. "Chakotay mentioned it."

"With a flesh-and-blood doctor and a certified nurse, our sickbay certainly seems better staffed than theirs," Harry remarked. "And yet they seem to be doing all right, health-wise. Maybe we're not giving the EMH enough credit."

"He's a blustering, arrogant know-it-all, and I would be only too glad to permanently erase his program from the holo-matrix," B'Elanna declared emphatically. "I don't understand why Chakotay won't even let me change his activation spiel. Surely we all know by now to 'state the nature of the medical emergency'."

New laughter accompanied her declaration.

Then Harry stood, collecting his plate and glass. "I'm sorry, but I need to get back to the bridge."

"Me too." Veronica followed his example. "Kathryn, when you get a chance to integrate the other _Voyager_ 's flight data into our astrometrics database, I'd love to take a look at the charts. Maybe we can identify some regions to avoid."

"I'll let you know," Kathryn promised.

Soon after, she and B'Elanna also left the mess hall to return to their respective posts.

-==/\==-

The probe returned well into beta shift. Chakotay and Kathryn had just settled on the couch for an after dinner chat, when a call from the bridge announced the now familiar phenomenon.

Chakotay downed the rest of his wine and leaned over for a quick kiss. "I'll be in the ready room. Don't wait up."

"Okay." Kathryn watched him leave, then pulled her feet up on the couch and reached for the PADD containing the novel she was currently reading.

When Chakotay had asked her to move in with him – barely two weeks after their relationship had become public knowledge – they had discussed situations such as this one. Even though Kathryn knew better than to touch any PADDs Chakotay left lying around, it was clear that she might someday overhear a call or conversation that wasn't meant for her ears. They had therefore agreed that Chakotay would retreat to the ready room whenever the captain's duty or discretion required privacy.

Even so, Kathryn's natural curiosity kept her from being able to concentrate fully on her reading. After a while, she dropped the PADD in her lap and let her head fall back against the couch, closing her eyes and letting her thoughts wander.

Maybe she _should_ have sent a message to her alter-ego on the other ship. What would Captain Janeway think of her silence? Would she interpret it as a sign of weakness or indifference? Kathryn had no doubt that the two captains were exchanging messages, even though Chakotay hadn't said anything about it. Would they be talking about her as well?

A soft chirp from her computer terminal interrupted her musings. She padded across the room and called up the message.

_I thought you'd be curious to get this right away. I didn't watch it._  
_Love, C._

The attached file was labelled _To Kathryn Janeway, CSciO_.

Kathryn sat down in front of the terminal and just stared at the screen for a full minute. The message could be from anyone, but she felt certain that it was from Captain Janeway.

Hesitantly, she finally reached out and opened the file.

It was like looking into a timewarped mirror. The captain was out of uniform, wearing a soft-looking white blouse of a similar style to what Kathryn preferred. Her hair had a similar length, and her blue eyes held the same sparkle. Only the fine lines around them betrayed her additional years.

The message had obviously been recorded in her private quarters, and Kathryn spotted a few mementos in the background which reminded her of family vacations and cadet field trips.

"Hello, Kathryn," the other woman began. "I hope it's okay if I call you Kathryn, because 'Commander Janeway' seems a little awkward." She smiled warmly. "I was very relieved to see your name on the crew roster. When we picked up your probe and heard Captain Chakotay's message, I initially feared the worst.”

Kathryn immediately felt bad. In all her musings about the other ship, it had never occurred to her that Janeway might take the fact of Chakotay's captaincy as evidence that Kathryn herself had been killed in action.

The captain didn't dwell on her lapse. "To be honest, I've often wondered where I would've ended up had I chosen the science track. I clearly remember the moment when I had to make the choice and was wavering between both options. They both had a certain appeal, as I'm sure you would agree. And there've been many occasions over the years where I wished that I _hadn't_ chosen command. My life could've been somewhat easier – or at least, so I assume." She chuckled briefly. "In a way I am very glad to see you on _Voyager_ , because I know the ship is better off with than without you. I also saw that you already started something we only thought of a little over three years ago. Astrometrics has been a great help for us on many occasions, and I'm sure you've had your hands full cataloguing the Delta Quadrant. I'm sending along some more of our star charts; hopefully they'll be of some help to you in the coming months and years." Her gaze turned wistful. "On the other hand, I also would've been happy to know you were safely back in the Alpha Quadrant with mom and Phoebe. Speaking of home – we managed to establish communication with Starfleet about three years ago, and I got a letter from Mark. Mark Johnson." A look of sorrow passed over her face. "We'd been planning to get married after _Voyager_ 's return from the Badlands. He waited for two years, but then moved on. Of course I'm not saying that your situation is bound to be the same, but I wanted you to know just in case, so you could be prepared."

_Mark?_ Kathryn wondered. _Who is Mark?_

"I wish there was a way we could send a shuttle through the wormhole, but Seven and B'Elanna both warned me that the wormhole's diameter is too small. Even the probe only just fits through." Janeway paused for a moment, but then her expression brightened. "I'm sure you're familiar with Tairn's theory of parallel universes. Tuvok and Seven went through the logs your Chakotay sent us, and they determined that you're about 47 hops away from us, to the right."

Kathryn's appreciation for the other _Voyager_ 's resident Borg went up a notch. During a staff meeting earlier in the day, her own Tuvok had stated that he was attempting to pin down the two universes' offset ratio on the Tairn scale. Aleqa Tairn was a Trill scientist who was renowned for her research of parallel universes, spanning three hosts' lifespans to date. By looking at the similarities and differences between parallel universes, she had established a classification system to describe how divergent two given universes were. The more data there was to compare, the more exact the placement on the scale.

After his preliminary review of the other _Voyager_ 's data, Tuvok had estimated an offset of at least 25 to 30 hops, pending further comparison. Apparently having the help of superior Borg data crunching abilities, the other crew had arrived at a more exact analysis in much shorter time. 'To the right' indicated that Kathryn's universe appeared more peaceful to the other crew than their own environment – the very left of the scale was reserved for the infamous Mirror Universe.

Kathryn shuddered slightly as she realized the implications. Her own journey through the Delta Quadrant had seemed anything but peaceful, but to know that the other crew had apparently faced even greater dangers was sobering. And yet they were still alive after more than six years, no doubt owing to the resilience and resourcefulness of the Starfleet ship and combined Starfleet/Maquis crew.

"I would very much like to compare notes with you, on anything you feel like sharing," Janeway was saying. "I already told Captain Chakotay that I don't think we have to worry about the Temporal Prime Directive, our universes appear different enough to disregard the consequences of any information exchange. And I have to admit that I'm most curious to hear about how and why you chose to follow the science track, and whether Vice Admiral T'Nera had anything to do with your decision – but only if you feel like talking about it, of course." She paused again, smiling. "I hope to talk to you again soon. Good bye for now, Kathryn."

The message ended. Kathryn sat back, deep in thought. She was grateful that the captain had taken the initiative, making it easier now for her to reply. Janeway must have sensed her reluctance, because her message was neither very long nor overly personal. She'd tread a fine line between keeping her side of the exchange professional while also sharing bits of private information, essentially leaving it to Kathryn to decide how much she wanted to open up to her counterpart in response.

She rose and turned slowly, comparing her own surroundings to the glimpse she'd gotten of Janeway's quarters. There, everything seemed to belong to the captain herself. Here, Kathryn's possessions were interspersed with Chakotay's, leaving no doubt that these quarters were shared by the couple.

Abruptly, she turned back. "Computer, prepare to record message." The screen came to life again, showing the integrated camera's view. Kathryn sat down and quickly checked her own appearance before turning her attention to the image background. After swiveling the terminal a few degrees and adjusting the camera angle, she was satisfied with the effect. Anyone watching her message would clearly see a small bronze statue she'd acquired on Barisa Prime about eight years ago – a twin to the one she'd observed on a shelf in Captain Janeway's quarters. Above the statue, there was a colorful wall hanging that was so clearly Chakotay's that Kathryn didn't think the significance could be missed, even if she didn't say a word about her relationship in the message she was about to record.

Taking a deep breath, she unpaused the recording and began to speak.

It was only later, when she lay in bed and was on the verge of falling asleep, that she remembered her childhood friend Mark 'Hobbes' Johnson – the boy who drowned because she had been too scared to try and save him.

-==/\==-

_to be continued_


End file.
